The European championship in Swamp soccer will take place in beautiful surroundings in Bolungarvík, Iceland on 3. – 5. of August, 2018
See you all this summer!
Registration
Registration opens in June. For registration of English speaking/foreign teams and players send an email to .
Price per person is ISK 6.000kr That includes the registration fee for the two days. Dance wristbands are ISK 6.000, but you can buy both for only ISK 10.000
How to come?
There are three ways to come to Bolungarvík and participate in the tournament. Drive, fly or sail.
Do I have to be a member of a team?
Absolutely not. First, you can just come and watch. Secondly, if you want to play but don’t have company to make up a whole team, you can sign up (see email above) for the catch-all team, a collection of oddballs both from Iceland and around the world who join forces to have fun. The editor of this page has through his whole career as a mudball-player been a proud member of the oddballs since its inception and has made many good friends during the ride.
Rules
The rules are simple and are similar to the rules in ordinary soccer:
-The field is appr. 60m x 35m.
-Playing time is not too long, not too short.
-There are six players in a team.
-All throws from the sideline and corners, are kicked.
-The goal-keeper is allowed to carry the ball about three meters from the goal.
However, there are some additional rules.
Pink card: If someone gets hurt (perhaps accidentally) the one who causes it must kiss the booboo.
Black card: For very severe fouls, the black card is shown. The one who gets it must play with a black head-bag for 2 minutes.
Refs are lax on rules of contact, so minor pulling and pushing is allowed, even encouraged.
What is needed?
First, you’d need shoes. Its good to buy duct tape or a cheaper variant to tape them to your feet, or else the suction will make you loose your shoes into the mud. Second, you’d need some sort of shorts and preferable some outer clothes that you can wear between matches. Members of the oddballs usually get t-shirts to wear.
Why come?
We at the European Swamp Soccer tournament asked two Canadians participation in the 2009 event why they are coming. Here is their answer.
My friend and I first decided to come to Iceland at the beginning of 2009. We started to plan our itinerary for the 16 day trip and had planned to spend 3 days in the Northwest Fjords. We were then looking through the Frommers Iceland book when somthing caught our eye. It was swamp soccer. We had never heard of or seen swamp soccer but we felt compelled to participate in it when we heard the name of the sport. We noticed the tournament is usually held at the end of July or beginning of August and though we would investigate further. We found the Iceland swamp soccer website when we searched on the internet and sent an inquisitive email to find out more. We were very excited when we found out that we could participate in this tournament because it is a great way to meet Icelandic people and see the culture of another nation. We decided to come not only because of the tournament but also the beauty of the Northwest Fjords. We had planned to come to do some kayaking, birdwatching and sightseeing in the area but the swamp soccer is just a great addition to our trip. After Isafjordur we plan on visiting Akureyri, and area, then Reykjavik, and area. We have never played swamp soccer before but we play regular soccer on a team together. This being said we are definately looking foreward to playing swamp soccer when we arrive!
Thanks for the opportunity to play swamp soccer and to meet new and interesting people. We are looking foreward to playing!
Regards,
-Allen Fowlis, Canada
